As he stood there, a flash of Master Taeke passed through the mind of the six-year-old boy. Years of poolside drills under the watchful eye of his Sensei. The Shu phase had felt endless. But today—today, it all clicked.
The little girl, floats strapped to both arms, looked up at him. She squinted, shielding her eyes from the blazing summer sun, watching him climb the diving board. This was his moment to shine, he thought. He’d finally reached that Ri stage his dad was always rattling on about. He’d show Michael Phelps who the real Olympic champion was.
World, here I come!
He took a deep breath—
And jumped.
A cat dropped into a bathtub would have shown more grace. His hands clawed for something solid, but all he grabbed was water. His mouth filled with chlorinated regret, and in that split second, a horrifying thought struck him—the girl with the floats had probably peed in that spot just before his grand entrance.
Gasping, flailing, and wondering if his swimming trunks were still in the right place, he fought his way to the edge. He looked up at me. I smirked.
I could read it on his face: he’d totally do this again.
Just… not now.
“Hi!” I said, grinning at him. His face was still smeared with leftover chocolate from his ice cream, like a badge of honor. “Ha, Dad!” he shot back before sprinting to the other side of the pool.
No, son, I muttered under my breath. Not Ha. Not even Ri. Definitely not.
I turned—just in time to catch my wife rolling her eyes in that oh-great-he’s-doing-the-work-thing-again way.
“Ah yes, leave work at home,” I muttered, diving in the pool.
Present day
Yesterday, I received a question. Twice, actually. “What’s the difference between Shu Ha Ri and a Cargo Cult? And what’s wrong with copying what works for others?” It took me some time to consider. Do you know the difference between Shu Ha Ri and a Scrum Master?
It sounds like the setup to a joke, doesn’t it? You see, the Scrum Masters leaves the examination room, grinning like a kid who just found a $100 bill. He just finished a two-day course on becoming a Scrum Master. And he passed. With flying colors. Ready to take on the world, he heads straight back to his HR manager to lead his team. He’s going to crush this!
Except, he’s not.
You see, copying? Fine. Great, even. When you’re under the watchful eye of a master. But here’s the problem with the way we grow our new leaders: Shu Ha Ri takes decades.
Not two days.
No matter how slick the training. No matter how fancy the certificate.
So stop it. Stop sending people to 8-hour courses where they hug sheep (or whatever it is they do there), with no real mentoring to guide the Shu and Ha phases. Stop asking for certificates that prove you can master front crawl on dry land.
Because that’s just mimicking without understanding—and nobody’s giving out medals for that.
So, today, start mentoring your new leaders!
And for the love of all things sacred, stop building Cargo Cults.
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